UCLA prepares to move forward with new graduate art studios funded by Margo Leavin
The L.A. Times spoke to Lari Pittman and Margo Leavin about UCLA's plan for new graduate art studios
Margo Leavin tells Carolina Miranda about her decision to make a lead gift to support the arts at UCLA, specifically the transformation of the UCLA Graduate Art Studios: “It’s crucial,” says Leavin. “I don’t think public universities — or any university — has a problem raising funds for medicine, stem cell research, health, etc. But the arts do not have as wide of an audience. And UCLA is a jewel of a school.”
"When famed Los Angeles gallerist Margo Leavin announced in May that she would make a $20-million donation to UCLA to remake the school’s grungy graduate art studios, the move was celebrated for the investment it brought to an important public educational institution. Now the project is moving forward, as the UC Board of Regents gathers Tuesday to approve the plan.
“We’ve had these plans, but it sat fallow there for the longest time,” says Lari Pittman, a painter who has taught in the UCLA art department for two decades. “But Margo drove it. She asked questions. She wanted to know things. She wanted to meet the dean. That’s how it slowly got its legs.”
'It’s crucial,' says Leavin. 'I don’t think public universities — or any university — has a problem raising funds for medicine, stem cell research, health, etc. But the arts do not have as wide of an audience. And UCLA is a jewel of a school.'
The plan to remake UCLA’s graduate art studios first emerged in 2011, when feasibility studies were conducted to explore upgrading the existing facilities. The studios are located on land owned by UCLA in Culver City — inside a central warehouse, with various additions, that has grown increasingly dilapidated over time. "— Carolina Miranda, July 18, 2016
Read the full article at the Los Angeles Times website.